MANSFIELD — There really was no mistaking a city school building in the 1800s.
In that distant age the value of education was so highly esteemed among the advantages of American democracy that the image of community schools was second in stature only to that of churches.
The churches were stone; the schools, though constructed primarily of brick, often had similarly massive stone foundations, cornices, arched entryways and window portals.
The stone said something about community values: quarried out of the Mansfield earth, it projected the bedrock standards of humanity. It was intended to reflect eternal value, and it was supposed to last forever.
The churches had steeples; the schools had lofty towers with schoolbells that sounded clearly out over the neighborhoods.
Those old schools dwarfed the young students with high ceilings and overwhelming hallways to order to instill within them a proper awe and respect for the strength and importance of education.
The old photos in this album clearly illustrate the substance and prominence of Mansfield’s first city schools.
Images come from the collections of Phil Stoodt, Maxine Smith, Richland County Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society, Sherman Room of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library.
Hedges School
Bushnell School
West First Street School
Newman Street School
Brinkerhoff School
West Fifth Street School
Bowman Street School
Prospect School
Mansfield High School
